The Situation
A West Yorkshire-based steelworks had suffered a catastrophic breakdown on their production line. A shot blasting machine had caught fire and the resulting damage was so serious that the machine had to be decommissioned. The cause was identified to be a hot ember that had attached itself to a piece of steel during the pre-heat stage. Loan equipment was quickly acquired, but damage costs were already estimated to be around £300,000.
The Solution
HAYLEY 247 DMS DEXIS, a leading provider of condition-based monitoring solutions was contacted for assistance. The customer wanted to avoid such a costly and dangerous event happening again, so HAYLEY 247 DMS DEXIS developed a suitable system that would provide early warning of any possible issues moving forwards. The system, using a thermal scanning device and Machine Guard sensor technology, has been configured to continuously monitor the steel as it moves from the pre-heater to the shot blast machine. Any irregularites in temperature are reported in real time with the relevant staff notified and the conveyor drive stopped for a manual inspection to take place.
"THE RISK OF FURTHER DISRUPTION HAS BEEN REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY, AS WELL AS POTENTIAL DAMAGE COSTS OF £300k."
The Result
The solution put in place has since prevented a repeat of the damaging fire from happening on the continuous process line at the plant. On this occasion, the roller conveyor was abruptly halted when a thermal irregularity was detected. Upon inspection, it was found that another hot ember was present on the steel. This was promptly removed and the line restarted. The Operations Director responsible for the running of the site said, “It’s pretty clear to us that this incident was a repeat of the events that lead to the failure of the previous shot blast machine. However, this time we had the benefit of the Machine Guard system. As a result, we not only avoided the inevitable disruption caused by a serious failure, but also potential damage costs of £300,000!”